It can feel strange waking up alone on Christmas Day with no pressing reason to get out of bed. The hours will stretch out in front of you; the end of the day as clear as a horizon on a snow-covered field against a white cloud sky. Where are the usual interruptions? Where are all the cold calls, bills through the post, text messages and group WhatsApp notifications? And why isn’t anyone demanding anything from you? It can take a while to feel at ease with an empty diary.

Loneliness is never too far away and this is especially true when, in the lead-up to 25 December, we’ve been railroaded with images of families packed around dining tables and scenes of children opening presents around a tree. But being alone at Christmas doesn’t have to be a negative experience and it doesn’t mean that you’ve necessarily made a series of bad decisions – this is just how life works out sometimes. Here’s a motto for a solo Christmas Day: being alone and being lonely are not the same thing.

Spending Christmas alone? I am – and I will enjoy it

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Many of us – especially those who go out to work – spend most of our lives surrounded by people. The frustration felt in a supermarket queue can feel, at the time, unparalleled, the crush caused by too many people on public transport can be unbearable, and those moments you want some quiet time but have to sit in a room of people can feel overwhelming. Spending Christmas Day alone is a holiday that money can’t buy.

What you should try to do is embrace the emptiness: walk on uncluttered streets, be the only person in the only shop that’s open for miles around, complete tasks without being disturbed, and take your pick of the best views uninterrupted by other pesky humans. These tiny moments afforded by Christmas Day are some of life’s luxuries.

Here are 10 things to do when you find yourself alone on Christmas Day:

1. Most attractions and services are closed on Christmas Day, but nature is not. In much of the UK it is forecast to rain most of Christmas Day, except 6-9am. You could make an early start, or you could go for a walk in the woods using the canopy of years of tree growth for shelter. Here’s a list of the 100 best British woods and forests.

2. But, given it’s cold outside, and rain is a bit dreary, it might be best to stay in and catch up on the year’s culture. Admittedly, this is a lot to get through in one day but it’s good to have choice. And you can listen to music and read at the same time.

3. Catch up on life admin with no one to disturb you or call you boring. When you’ve finished you’ll wake up on 26 December one step ahead of – or in sync with – the rest of the world.

4. Volunteer. If you’re too late to help out, there are always the smaller ways to directly help the people around you. Calling on a neighbour or starting a conversation with a stranger could be just the thing both of you need on Christmas Day.

5. Spend a guilt-free day bathing in the vastness of the internet. I can’t vouch for their content, but if you’re in need of conversation, chatrooms and forums can be a good source of company: from Chatroulette and Reddit to the Guardian comment threads. As soon as you tire of their company, you can simply click the back button on your browser: a luxury you don’t have with real-life company.

6. Parkruns take place in parks across the UK, with most starting at 9am. After this, all you’ll need to think about is recovering.

7. Christmas Day is a great time to visit and eat at restaurants in Chinatown, and areas with large Bangladeshi, Indian, Turkish and Vietnamese communities. Rebel against traditional Christmas turkey and eat a Turkish lahmacun.

8. Make use of the empty streets and take photographs. You can even set up the self-timer and walk away because no one will be around to steal your camera.

9. Turn your front room into a beach bar, with Malibu, watermelon slices and cocktail umbrellas, and watch movies about the summer. It’s going to be pale and miserable outside anyway, like the worst Instagram filter you’ve ever imagined.

10. Forget that it’s Christmas Day altogether, and do whatever you would usually do on a day off. Campaigners have fought, and continue to fight hard, for the freedoms we enjoy today. Go flex your right to do whatever you please.

If you’re alone at Christmas and are feeling overwhelmed there are a number of services that you can reach out to.

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.